1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a structure of an ice crusher apparatus being installed on an ice bucket of an ice making compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator refers to a home appliance provided with a storage compartment configured to store foods and a cool air supply apparatus configured to supply the storage compartment with cool air to keep the foods fresh. The refrigerator may be provided with an ice maker to generate ice and an ice bucket to store the ice generated at the ice maker.
In addition, the ice bucket includes an ice crusher apparatus to crush ice, and an ice crushing space provided with a lower portion having a discharge hole. The ice crusher apparatus includes at least one fixed blade, at least one rotary blade, and an opening/closing member to open and close at least one portion of the discharge hole to select whether the ice is to be crushed.
That is, when the opening/closing member closes at least one portion of the discharge hole, the whole ice generated from the ice maker fails to pass through the discharge hole and is crushed by the fixed blade and the rotary blade. Accordingly, the crushed pieces of ice are discharged through the discharge hole. On the contrary, when the opening/closing member opens the discharge hole, the whole ice generated from the ice maker passes through the discharge hole as it is.
However, in a case that an ice making compartment has a narrow width, an opening angle of the opening/closing member is decreased, thereby making it difficult to selectively discharge the whole ice and the crushed ice.